BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— The Samford baseball team dropped its 2015 season opener to the Radford Highlanders by a score of 5-2 Friday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
In the loss for Samford, catcher
Richard Greene went 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI. Designated hitter
Jared Watson also drove in a run for Samford, going 1-for-4 at the plate.
Samford starting pitcher
Alex Ledford (0-1) took the loss on the mound for the Bulldogs. Ledford tossed 5.0 innings, giving up three runs, just two earned, on four hits.
Philip Flach,
Mikel Belcher,
Sam Teague,
Wyatt Burns and
Jesse Travis also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.
Radford was led at the plate by Hunter Higgerson, going 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Chris Coia also drove in a run for the Highlanders. Michael Boyle (1-0) earned the win on the mound for Radford, pitching 6.0 innings, giving up two runs on six hits.
Radford jumped out to an early lead, plating two runs in the top of the first inning. Josh Reavis doubled with one out to get things started. After Patrick Marshall walked, Higgerson doubled down the left-field line to drive in Marshall and Reavis for a 2-0 Radford lead.
Samford came back with a run in the bottom of the first inning to make the score 2-1.
T.J. Dixon doubled to lead off the inning. Watson then singled to drive in Dixon for Samford's first run of the game.
Radford added a run in the third inning when Higgerson singled to drive in Shane Johnsonbaugh. Samford then added a run in the fifth inning on Greene's solo home run to make the score 3-2.
The Highlanders added a run in the sixth inning and another run in the eighth inning to make the final score 5-2. Josh Gardiner doubled to drive in Coia for the run in the sixth inning. In the eighth inning, Danny Hrbek scored on a sacrifice bunt by Coia for the game's final run.
Samford and Radford will continue their series with a game Saturday at 2 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Live stats are available through links on the Samford baseball page on
www.samfordsports.com.
